1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to vehicle bumper protectors and, more particularly, to such protectors which will prevent scratching of or damage to a vehicle bumper from golf spikes.
2. Background Art
The game of golf has become increasingly popular in the United States today. While a modern golfer utilizes much equipment for the sport, most golfers wear golf shoes which have a plurality of thin, metal spikes on the sole. Golfers often drive to a golf course fully clothed for a round of golf, with the exception of golf spikes. A golfer will typically change from street shoes to golf spikes in the parking lot of a golf course, most often at the golfer's vehicle. In order to change into golf spikes, a golfer may sit on the vehicle seat with the door open, placing the golf spikes on the ground and bending over to insert a foot into a shoe and tie the shoelaces. This is often quite uncomfortable for older golfers or for those golfers with bad backs. A golfer may also stand erect and lift one foot at a time up into the air to put on the golf spikes. However, this method is quite awkward for most golfers. Placing the golf spikes on a raised footrest is a more acceptable method, but in a parking lot the only raised areas are often portions of a vehicle and it is highly undesirable to place sharp golf spikes on most or all areas of typical vehicles.
A wide variety of steps, supports and the like have been developed in the past for use with vehicles. Different devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,378,678; 2,698,048; 2,781,081; 3,289,611; 4,785,910; 4,799,609; 4,907,674; 4,911,264 and 5,197,381. However, none of these devices is particularly suited for use with golf spikes. In addition, many of these devices are complicated and difficult or cumbersome to use or are intended to be more permanently attached to a vehicle.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle mounted device which protects the bumper of a vehicle and allows a golfer to place golf spikes on the vehicle bumper. It is a further object to provide such a vehicle bumper protector in an arrangement which is easy to use, which is moveable to another vehicle and which is inexpensive to manufacture.